United States Eventing Association

The Cats Earn the Crown: University of Kentucky Wildcats Team Wins the 2021 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships

It was an impressive first USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship victory this week for the University of Kentucky. Though the school brought eight teams to the competition, it was the University of Kentucky Wildcats Team comprised of four talented young riders: Cosby Green, Ivie Cullen Dean, Caroline Dannemiller, and Abbey O’Day, that took home the title of 2021 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Champions.

This year there were 105 entries, 29 teams, and 15 schools competing for the Championship title at the Virginia Horse Park in Lexington, VA. In addition to the traditional USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships with the undergraduate division, the USEA also offered a graduate division for students, and the Championships will include levels at the Beginner Novice through Intermediate, and the CCI*-L, CCI2*-S, CCI2*-L, and CCI3*-L levels this year.

Rising Junior Cosby Green rode the 6-year-old thoroughbred gelding McCreary to the win in the Training Horse A division, staying on their 30.0 dressage score to help her team earn the title. “He was a star,” admitted Green. “I’ve had him since he was three. He had an abscess right before this event, but he really showed up for me this weekend. It just goes to show our partnership. He really tries for me, so I’m stoked about it."

Caroline Dannemiller will be a senior this fall at Kentucky and was also pleased with the 8-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Fernhill Dreaming’s weekend performance in the Modified B division after the pair placed third overall. “He had a really great run-up to the event,” she explained, “so I was hoping to put in a solid three phases together. He came out and tried his best, and it was super fun. I was really happy with him.”

Ivie Cullen Dean and her new mount, the 5-year-old warmblood gelding Redfield Lorimer earned second place in the Open Beginner Novice Horse division, marking an impressive start in their career together. “I just bought him off of a video last Wednesday,” Cullen Dean stated. “That was the first time I saw him. I went and competed with him over the weekend, and he was an absolute star, so now I’m excited to go home and get to know him and work out the quirks that we had over the weekend, but he was great, and I’m really happy with him.”

Abbey O’Day, who will be a senior at Kentucky this fall, piloted the 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding Casper 385 through the Novice Rider B division and said, “I am really happy with our weekend. He’s pretty new to eventing, so we are still trying to work some things out, but overall, I’m really excited with how it went this weekend.”

The highly coveted Spirit Award went to the University of Auburn after demonstrating exceptional team spirit and camaraderie throughout the week. “It’s amazing [to win the Spirt Award],” said the team. “We tried to show our team spirit all weekend, and had fun supporting each other and all of the other teams, and had a great experience. We planned to be ourselves. We wanted to represent Auburn and what it stands for. We wanted to get decked out and show up for everyone, and it felt great!” Randolph-Macon College was close behind Auburn in the spirit department, so much, so that event organizers from the Virginia Horse Trails opted to awarded them with reimbursement for half their entries.

Second place in 2021 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships went to the University of Georgia Red Team, which included Alaina Carroll riding Sweet Georgia Brown to third place in the Novice Rider B division; Sierra Schurtz riding Zach Eyed Pea to fourth place in the Open Novice division; and Hannah Ledford riding Doubt Ya Boy in the Open Training division.

Third place went to the Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets Team, consisting of Morgyn Johnson riding Peter Parker GS to a second place in the CCI One Star-L, Holly Shade riding Hang on Caitlyn in the Modified B division, Austin Skeens riding What Gives in the CCI One Star-L, and Sydney Guy riding Renegade in the Open Beginner Novice Rider division.

Fourth place went to the Auburn University Orange Team of Kaitlyn Dendy riding Highland Reign to a second-place finish in the Open Beginner Novice Rider division, Jennifer Mulholland riding Casanova in the Training Rider A division, Suzanne Hillhouse riding FGF Bob'n For Silver in the Novice Rider A division, and Barbara Brogan riding Lyell to fourth place in the Open Beginner Novice Rider division.

Fifth place went to the University of Florida/ University of Maryland Team made up of Kaley Rak riding Suspicious Behavior in the Open Novice division, Rylee Gailey riding Dukes Up in the Open Intermediate division, MacKenzie Mizell riding Monte Carlo in the Open Beginner Novice Rider division, and Paige Ansaldi riding Bombay Original to a fourth-place finish in the Novice Rider B division.

Sixth place went to the University of Georgia Black Team whose members included Madison McCauley riding Aigle Allegre in the Preliminary Rider division, Audrey Utley riding Divine Intervention in the Open Beginner Novice Rider division, and Lauren Meyers riding SW Cooley WinePort to a third-place finish in the Open Beginner Novice Rider division.

The Graduate Team was separately scored and consisted of Amelia Bayer from James Madison University riding Blood, Sweat, & Beers in the Open Novice division, Macy Clark from the University of Kentucky riding Mandolin R in the Modified B division, and Mackenzie Krason from Virginia Tech riding Won for Luck in the Open Beginner Novice Rider division.

Final 2021 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship scores may be found here.

In the undergraduate division, the primary division at the USEA Intercollegiate Championships, the Champions, Reserve Champions, and third-place team received very special prizes thanks to the USEA sponsors. Bates Saddles will be provided large show bags, grooming bags, polo wraps, jump saddle cloths, dressage saddle cloths, baseball caps, pins, and keyrings. FITS Riding provided $100 gift certificates for all members in the top three teams. RevitaVet provided one RevitaVet system to the Championship winning team. The Championship winning team also walked away with a very generous prize from R&J Equine Unlimited LLC, with two spots to attend a one-month hydrotherapy service at the facility in Steeles Tavern, Va. World Equestrian Brands provided Amerigo leather care kits for the Champions and gift certificates for the second and third-place teams. Kerrits awarded gift bags, and EQuine AMerica Magazine also provided branded prizes as well. US Equestrian provided saddle pads featuring the USEA Intercollegiate logo for the top four teams in the undergraduate division. Saratoga Horseworks provided beautiful, embroidered show coolers for all team members on the Championship winning team.

In the graduate division, prize bags were given to the Champion team, including goodies from Bates Saddles, US Equestrian embroidered saddle pads, EQuine AMerica Magazine prizes, Kerrits apparel, and gift bags, gift certificates to Shop USEA, and more. Saratoga Horseworks also be provided custom embroidered show coolers to the Champion team.

About the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program
The USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program was established in 2014 to provide a framework within which eventing teams and individual competitors could flourish at universities and colleges across the country. The USEA offers a discount of $25 on annual USEA memberships for current students of universities and colleges registered as Affiliates with the USEA. Many events across the country now offer Intercollegiate Team Challenges where collegiate eventers can compete individually as well as on teams with their fellow students. In Intercollegiate Team Challenges, each rider’s score is multiplied by a coefficient appropriate for their level to account for differences in level difficulty, and then the individual scores are added together to determine the team score. Click here to learn more about the Intercollegiate Eventing Program.

The USEA would like to thank Saratoga Horseworks, Bates Saddles, FITS, World Equestrian Brands,EQuine AMerica Magazine, Revitavet, Kerrits, R&J Equine Unlimited, LLC, and US Equestrian for sponsoring the Intercollegiate Eventing Program.